Erica Gluck and Young Marqus

Alaina L. Lewis

The youth engine is chugging along in full steam when it comes to today’s rising stars and their ascent towards success in entertainment. For two dramatically diverse talents, Erica Gluck and Young Marqus, it has been their skill set that has demanded such an attention from audiences worldwide and has them both cornering the market as today’s next to blow-in the entertainment industry.

At all of 12 years old, Gluck got her start doing commercials for companies like Target. But, it was a role on the hit sitcom The Game as the character ‘Brit Brat’ which made her a household name.

Between seasons, Gluck set her sights on conquering the world of entertainment on a larger platform. A role alongside Paula Patton and Keifer Sutherland in a film entitled Mirrors helped her stretch her abilities. She also had the opportunity to play little sister to Nick Cannon in the film American Son.

Kathryn Stockett made an auspicious debut in 2009 with the publication of The Help, a poignant period piece examining the unquestioned relationships of entitled, white socialites and their deferential Black maids in Mississippi. Although the story is set in the author’s hometown of Jackson in the early Sixties, her best-selling novel is more fictional than autobiographical in nature.

The screen adaptation unfolds from the point of view of Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis), a long-suffering nanny left bone-weary by a life spent “lookin’ after white babies.” Born in 1911, she is currently raising little Mae Mobley Leefolt (Emma and Eleanor Henry), a recent addition to a prominent Southern family.

Prequel to fabled franchise again pits primates against people

Kam Williams - Film Review

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the seventh installment in the fabled Fox franchise which began way back in 1968 with the legendary Charlton Heston as the leading man. This episode stars James Franco as the protagonist of an origins adventure dedicated to explaining exactly how an antagonistic army of anthropomorphic primates came into existence.

The film unfolds in present-day San Francisco where we find Dr. Will Rodman (Franco) working feverishly on a cure for Alzheimer’s at Gen Sys, a prominent biotech corporation. Besides having an altruistic concern for the general welfare of victims of the disease, the dedicated scientist also has a personal stake in the research, since his father (John Lithgow) has recently started showing signs of senility.

Much Obliged

Kam Williams

Mary J. Blige - “The Help” Interview

Mary J. Blige wrote and recorded an original song for the soundtrack of The Help a film, which takes places in Mississippi in the early Sixties. Based on the best-seller of the same name by Kathryn Stockett, the movie chronicles the emotional journey of three very different women who embark on a secret writing project breaking societal rules and thereby putting themselves at risk.

Here, Blige, a six-time Grammy Award-winner, talks about what inspired her to compose the The Living Proof.

(i am) Isis

Alaina L. Lewis

It was a night of lights, camera, and Spoken Word at the Loft Literary Center on 10th and Washington as it opened the doors for Mshale, an African Community Newspaper/Organization, to celebrate its 15th Anniversary in print and love.

The evening brought out an array of talented Spoken Word artists and singers, who throughout the night took turns belting out poetry and anecdotes that expressed everything from self-discovery to a overcoming of prejudices. Antoine Duke, Hersi the Poet, Tish Jones, and Fabulous Fe were among some of the highlights that evening.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and apparently that even goes for a beauty queen with an I.Q. of 168. That would be Joyce McKinney who enjoyed a whirlwind romance in Salt Lake City with a guy named Kirk Anderson following her reign as Miss Wyoming of 1973.

The blubbery 300-pounder was so flattered that Joyce found him attractive that he told her “I love you!” the night they met, and then proposed to her the very next day. The trouble was that he was also a Mormon and his devout parents disapproved of the hasty liaison. Plus, he was scheduled to depart to England soon to do the missionary work expected of all members of the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Winnie the Pooh: Disney brings Pooh and pals back to big screen

Kam Williams, Film Review

Written by A.A. Milne (1882-1956) back in the 1920s, Winnie the Pooh is a beloved children’s classic which has captured the imagination of young and old alike for generations on end. Since acquiring the rights to the collection of the collection of timeless tales in the early Sixties, Walt Disney has adapted them to both the big and small screens, even extending the popular franchise in recent years by creating sequels for such peripheral characters as Tigger (2000), Piglet (2003) and Heffalump (2005).With the latest episode, Pooh (Jim Cummings) returns to the limelight for an animated adventure ostensibly-based on three of the original, illustrated bedtime stories. The action unfolds in fabled Hundred Acre Wood, where we find him rousing from hibernation, hungry and out of honey. This state of affairs inspires the anthropomorphic bear to sing “The Tummy Song,” the first of numerous excuses the production seizes upon to launch into a bouncy show tune.